The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the visiting nursing by the laboratory-unit nurses to the ward of precardiac catheterization patients. The Visiting Nursing is that on the day before planned cardiac catheterization, a nurse from the laboratory-unit visited the patient at his/her ward to collect information about the patient's situation, to provide the patient with information about the test or treatment, and to reduce the patient's anxiety. The subjects of this study were 10 patients who received cardiac catheterization during their hospital stay. There were 8 males and 2 females, with ages ranging from 46 to 73 years (mean: 61.3 + 2.45 years). Of these patients 5 had undergone no cardiac catheterization before, and 5 had.received it once or more before. The effects of the nurse's visit before catheterization were assessed using an interview-based qualitative survey method. Two or three days after catheterization, the patient was interviewed by an examiner. The patients experienced this kind of visiting nursing to have the following effects: 1) cognitive effects (supply of information about procedure, supply of sensory information, presentation of the role of the laboratory-unit nurses), and 2) emotional effects (helping the patient to express his/her anxiety, understanding the patient's anxiety, assuring patients about the safety and comfort of the procedure, etc.) During the nurse's visit, the patients understood the information supplied, spoke about their anxiety, and felt support, dependency, reliance and a sense of relief. Most patient accepted the visiting nursing positively, saying that it 'was valuable', 'made me feel relieved', and 'made me feel comfortable'. Emotional effects of the visit were positively accepted by all patients. Regarding the cognitive effects of the visit, some patients who had received cardiac catheterization before said that repeated explanation of details was unnecessary. These findings suggest that the laboratory-unit nurse's visit to the patient at his/her ward before planned cardiac catheterization favorably affects the patient.